


What They Read at Night, Part III

by QueenHimiko



Series: What They Read at Night [3]
Category: Slayers (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Ecchi, F/M, Implied Masturbation, Trashy Romance Novels, the gang gets geeky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 13:15:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13388589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenHimiko/pseuds/QueenHimiko
Summary: Will Zelgadis succumb to the trashy delights of the erotic Justina Justice novels? And will the inn they are staying at survive? This was inspired by a conversation with Dragonfeathers.





	What They Read at Night, Part III

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Happy to help.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12989307) by [Dragonfeathers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonfeathers/pseuds/Dragonfeathers). 



> I don't own "The Slayers," I just play in the sandbox.

As they made it to town, Zelgadis had to thank his lucky stars for the two things that had saved him from overwhelming embarrassment. The first one being that when they had been attacked everyone had been too distracted by Amelia’s theatrics to notice that his magic was on the fritz. The second being that since leaving the bandits eating dust by the road, Lina, Gourry and Amelia had been too busy discussing the impending release of the newest Justina Justice book to speculate about why he was broody and moody.

“What’s this one going to be called again?” Gourry asked.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Lina cried, “ _How the Highway Man Stole the Heart of Justina Justice!_ ”

“So will she actually become evil this time, or will she tame the highway man like she tamed the Pirate King and the Bandit Prince and the…”

“Justina Justice would never succumb to evil!” Amelia declared.

“But wouldn’t it be amazing if the Highway Man leads her close enough to taste it, and then the Pirate King has to rush back in and woo her back?” Lina asked.

“Actually…” Amelia said thoughtfully.

“Whoa, Lina, it’s getting scary how much you get into this!” Gourry said, but before the redhead could get too heated, he leaned down to whisper something in her ear, and she giggled. But any speculation on Zelgadis’ part about whether or not they had become a couple since the mess with Hellmaster (Lina refused to talk about it, violently refused to talk about it) was drowned under the weight of his own problems.

Namely, that he was a man whose magic was becoming unreliable. It was a state that most men did not like to talk about, and therefore it was barely mentioned about aside from whisperings about how taking care of your sexual needs was vital to keeping the flow of magical energy unimpeded. And since becoming a chimera, ‘taking care of himself’ had changed from a pleasant activity to one that drew his attention to his freakish nature and that he had subsequently avoided. But it hadn’t affected him too much, until now that is. And he had a feeling that his unresolved issues with Amelia were contributing to it. But he simply couldn’t burden her with him. And so it had come to this. He had about as much magical power as a woman on her time of the month. He had seldom felt so emasculated.

“Look!” Amelia shrieked as they approached a bookseller that had Justina Justice prominently displayed in their window, “It’s here! It’s finally here!”

Lina, Gourry and Amelia raced to the bookseller, and soon Lina was driving a hard bargain for the books, arguing that since they were buying three copies they should get a bulk discount. And Zel couldn’t help but think that, terrible as the books likely were, they would at least get him thinking about the story and not his body or the woman he could never have.

“Is there another bookseller in this town?” Zelgadis asked a passerby as the others were distracted.

“Yes, two blocks to the west.”

“Thanks.” Zelgadis said.

* * *

Lina swallowed another piece of chocolate, smearing the page with the residue as she gripped the book tightly. As expected, it had been a page turner, and after just two hours of reading she was close to the end. Of course, she would go back over it later, taking a more leisurely approach with the juicy bits. But for now, she had to see how it would end. She was just at the climax when the sound of a door slamming open reverberated down the hallway, followed by Zelgadis screaming, “Fire!”

Lina frowned and wondered why Zel couldn’t put it out on his own, but rushed to the hallway to see what was happening. Amelia and Gourry were also coming out of their rooms, both wearing the bleary-eyed look of someone who had been reading for hours (which was truly strange to see on Gourry’s face). Flames were indeed sprouting from Zelgadis’ room. 

Lina rushed in with Amelia, “MOS VARIM!” they both shouted as the men watched. Soon they had extinguished the flames, and Lina shook her head, “Just so you know, Zel, the funds for fixing this room are coming out of your pocket.”

“Alright, alright, why don’t you all go back to sleep now.” He said.

“That’s not a nice way to act, especially considering we stopped the inn from burning down.” Amelia said.

Zelgadis blushed as he said through gritted teeth. “Thanks for your help. Please leave.”

“But why couldn’t you put it out on your own?” Gourry asked in his clueless manner as Lina put her hand to her chin as she studied Zelgadis, “I mean, you are a sorcerer.”

“Well…I’ll explain later just…”

“Hey Zel, how did the fire start in the first place? I mean light spells aren’t flammable so…”

“That’s…that’s none of your business!” Zelgadis sputtered.

“But all of us could have been burned to a crisp!” Amelia countered.

Lina walked over to the bed, “This calls for an investigation!”

Zelgadis jumped in front of her, “Nothing to see here!”

But Gourry was so tall that he could easily look over Zelgadis as he commented, “Is that the remains of a book on the bed?”

“Ha!” Amelia said as she managed to sneak around Zelgadis and grab it. It was rather charred, but the remains of the embossed title with Justina Justice on it could be made out. “So you’ve succumbed!”

Zelgadis was a deep shade of purple never seen before as a thousand denials crossed and died on his tongue. Lina laughed as she put a hand on his shoulder, “You’ve been caught! Give it up! But that still doesn’t explain why you couldn’t put it out or how the fire started…”

Lina’s voice gradually slowed, stuttered and died as she turned blue. Amelia yelped as she turned red and threw her hands over her mouth, while Lina took a few steps away from Zelgadis as she started to laugh nervously while Gourry looked at them cluelessly. “What? Lina, I’m confused.”

“I-I’ll explain it to you when you’re older.” Lina muttered. 

“I’d suggest you wait until the baths are free and empty.” Amelia added as steam came out of Zelgadis’ ears. “That way nothing would catch fire, or even if the book did, you could drop it in the bath.”

“I don’t need that mental image in my head!” Lina shrieked.

Gourry smacked his hands together as a lightbulb formed over his head, “Now I get it! Zel, you really should be more careful! Though I guess you’ve never had to start a fire on your own without magic. Didn’t you know that rubbing rocks together produces sparks!?”

**Author's Note:**

> This is Dragonfeather’s fault. Well I had been wanting to do a third part to What They Read at Night for about two years now involving Zelgadis getting sucked into the Justina Justice novels, but I could never figure out a good way to do it until I read Dragonfeather’s fic, Happy to help (https://archiveofourown.org/works/12989307) on AO3 (warning, it is a lemon). There I found my new favorite bit of fanon that to keep their magic running smoothly the gang needs to take care of their sexual needs, and an exchange with Dragonfeathers in the comments led to me getting this gem of an idea. Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
